30 Pitching Seasons You Might’ve Missed
Touring the league to highlight a pitcher per team whose efforts could’ve slipped past your radar.
Check out the hitters here.
American League
Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS | 3.73 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 18% K-BB
The bottom half injuries continue to plague him, but the skills are still there when he is healthy and upright.
J.A. Happ, NYY | 3.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 26% K
This strong effort will help the 35-year old southpaw get a solid multi-year deal this winter.
Ryan Yarbrough, TB | 15 W, 3.93 ERA
H2H leaguers were definitely aware of Yarbrough because he was a gem as someone piling up wins without cutting into your weekly starts count (in leagues that have such a restriction).
Ryan Borucki, TOR | 3.76 ERA
Options were scant here, but the 24-year old rookie lefty did pretty well despite a meager 9% K-BB rate. His home run suppression (5% HR/FB) played a big role and likely won’t last over a full season, but again, pickings were thin for the Jays.
Mychal Givens, BAL | 2.57 ERA, 8 SVs since Aug. 1st
Unsurprisingly the 46-112 team is a dumpster fire of pitching so I went with their second half closer.
Mike Clevinger, CLE | 3.07 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 26% K
OK, this elite season wasn’t hidden or anything, but I wanted to shine a spotlight on him as his top 20 SP season was actually fourth best on the club (Kluber 5th, Bauer 10th, and Carrasco 15th). He does have the second most innings at 193.3.
Taylor Rogers, MIN | 29% K, 23% K-BB, 0.97 WHIP
I wonder if his left-handedness kept him from getting a shot at the closer’s role after Fernando Rodney was dealt because he was markedly better than Trevor Hildenberger.
Matthew Boyd, DET | 4.39 ERA, 1.16 WHIP
Hey, I didn’t forget my favorite team this time! Boyd’s 4.39 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but he was likely a key midseason waiver pickup in many leagues with a 3.88 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 72 second half innings.
Jace Fry, CWS | 33% K
I think Carlos Rodon and Reynaldo Lopez got their due despite being on a bottom-feeding team so I didn’t pick either of them and instead went for another sneaky lefty who showed some closer upside.
Brad Keller, KC | 3.08 ERA, 54% GB
Man oh man, pitching in the AL Central outside of Cleveland is rough! Keller managed a good ERA, but also had a 1.30 WHIP and 8% K-BB rate so we’d need to see some improvements to maintain a sub-4.00 ERA next year.
Collin McHugh, HOU | 2.05 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 33% K
The former starter could find his way back into the rotation this year, but carved out a nice role in the bullpen with 70 elite innings of work.
Lou Trivino, OAK | 27% K, 14% SwStr
The Oakland pen has no doubt driven their success and the 26-year old rookie has been instrumental in lengthening the pen behind Treinen and Familia.
Wade LeBlanc, SEA | 3.55 ERA
The Mariners got a solid 157 innings out of the 33-year old southpaw.
Jaime Barria, LAA | 3.54 ERA
Health just ravaged the Angels rotation so unfortunately they needed Barria’s solid work just to stay afloat rather than use them as a supplement to what was supposed to be a strong rotation.
Jose Leclerc, TEX | 1.59 ERA, .120 AVG, 38% K
He was probably too good to really miss the radar, especially with 11 SV since August 1st, but they just didn’t have any real options.
National League
Anibal Sanchez, ATL | 2.96 ERA, 1.09 WHIP
The 34-year old righty once again tamed the HR issues that plagued him for three years and wound up having a fantastic season for the Braves as he curbed his four-seamer for a cutter to stunning results.
Jeremy Hellickson, WAS | 1.07 WHIP
His changeup returned and fostered a rebound from his disastrous 2017 (5.43 ERA).
Hector Neris, PHI | 31 K in 15 2H IP
His 5.40 ERA and 1.36 WHIP for the full season weren’t good, but he got right after a demotion to Triple-A and finished with a strong 2.40 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in those 15 innings.
Seth Lugo, NYM | 2.66 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 25% K
Swingman/multi-inning relief role netted him 101 innings of quality work and he could be in line for a starter’s role next year.
Adam Conley, MIA | 1.10 WHIP, 14% SwStr
Eight earned runs across two tough August outings boosted his ERA to 4.20, but the former starter looks like he could be the next great lefty reliever.
Cole Hamels, CHC | 2.47 ERA, 1.14 WHIP w/Cubs
If you didn’t benefit from this on your fantasy team, you might’ve missed the 34-year old’s surge after a mediocre 20 starts in Texas (4.72 ERA, 1.37 WHIP).
Wade Miley, MIL | 2.32 ERA
Fully embracing his cutter (+30 points to 41%) has yielded 78 strong innings of work, though the 7% K-BB rate is suspect. HR suppression (0.4 HR/9, 6% HR/FB) has allowed him to succeed despite the paltry K-BB rate.
John Brebbia, STL | 21% K-BB
He had a solid follow up to his rookie campaign and looks like a steady middle piece in the Cards bullpen.
Richard Rodriguez, PIT | 32% K, 25% K-BB
He matched or bested closer Felipe Vazquez across the board this year and could become a viable closer candidate himself next year.
Michael Lorenzen, CIN | hit 4 HR
That I’m highlighting the four homers a reliever hit speaks to Cincy’s pitching in 2018.
Scott Oberg, COL | 0.98 WHIP, 2.57 ERA
Unfortunately his efforts couldn’t counterbalance the meltdowns of Shaw (5.93 ERA) and McGee (6.43 ERA).
Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD | 2.00 ERA, 24% K-BB in 76 IP
A left groin strain ate up three months of time and kept him from having a truly game-changing season.
Clay Buchholz, ARI | 2.01 ERA, 1.04 WHIP
A late-season elbow injury cut his season short, but he was excellent for 98 innings thanks to a cutter-changeup combo that kept him ahead in counts (68% 1st-pitch strike) and made him difficult to square up (.217 AVG).
Tony Watson, SF | 1.05 WHIP, 22% K-BB
Labored through a 1.38 WHIP and 11% K-BB (lowest since ’11) last year, but regained his changeup this year and became a force yet again.
Kirby Yates, SD | 36% K, 0.92 WHIP
Curbed his HR issues from last year (1.9 to 0.9 HR/9) and now looks like a viable closer option for the future (and did the job well from August on with 9 SV in 10 opps.)
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Who’s your favorite from this list and did I miss anyone you really liked?
German Marquez. He was *on my team* for the last 6 weeks or so, and I still didn’t realize exactly how amazing he’s been.
Season long 3.76 ERA/1.20 WHIP in Coors is solid but not eye-popping. Obviously the Ks of 27.8% .
2nd half: split? He’s the 2nd-best pitcher in the league, behind only DeGrom, half-win better than Scherzer. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2018&month=31&season1=2018&ind=0&team=&rost=&age=0&filter=&players=
2.55 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 33% Ks, 6.39 K/BB.
He was unbelievable down the stretch. I hope my league forgets about that at the draft.
True story. When Bauer and Paxton went down unexpectedly in the late summer, Marquez and Wheeler carried the load down the homestretch for my Ninja Blacksox fantasy team. Those guys were downright heroic over the last 2 months. (And Baseball Stars for NES is still the best baseball video game ever and forever.)
Trevor Williams’ 2nd half
I wrote about him a few times, I think he was too good to really be hidden.
I avoided him because of your write-ups! I picked him up first and started researching second, and because of your analysis I benched him vs. ATL and dropped him. I told my buddy in my league that his peripherals were all terrible and he said, “now someone else will pick him up and ride him down the stretch”, which is exactly what he did.
I was definitely perplexed by him. I couldn’t find anything to truly support his success. He was no doubt pitching well, but not well enough for such exquisite numbers. Props to him for sure.
I’m not sure if Neris deserves a mention on here for a decent 15 IP
Agreed, think i would have rather seen Arano for the Phillies.
Considered Arano, but Neris could close again next year so wanted to highlight that he got back on track
I’m also sore because he helped tank my RPs early in the season
As a Reds fan, let me agree that rooting for Lorenzen to hit HRs was the best part of the Reds staff this year.
I do feel, though, that Jared Hughes deserves a mention: 4th among all relievers in RA9-WAR this year, slotting in between Diaz and Hader. I suppose he didn’t bring much fantasy value, but he was one of the few free-agent relievers this year whose team was likely glad to have signed him.
Is Dereck Rodriguez too “on the radar?”
I like Matt Barnes in Bos. A long forgotten top prospect that was down on the bullpen depth chart all year and was the most valuable person not named Kimbrel.
Erod was good but not sure he was under the radar so much
Zack Wheeler SP | NYM 182.3 IP, 12 Wins,179 K’s, 150 Hits, 3.31 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
While certainly unexpected at the start of the year, I don’t think many missed his overall performance for the year by the end and I think that’s what Paul was going for.
If you’re going to put Neris on, what about the job Greg Holland did for the Nats after coming over? 2-0 0.89 ERA 0.934 WHIP 25 K’s in 20.1 IP.
The people in my H2H leagues apparently missed that Luis Castillo found his mojo again over the last few weeks of the season, because they kept letting me pick him up and drop him between starts before grabbing him again. Best changeup in the league…
Is Taillon a Top 20 SP next year? Asking for a friend..
I know standards for velocity are changing, but with respect to Fry is a LHP who averages 94 on their fastball sneaky? Ten or fifteen years ago, no. Not sure today.